I'm very honored to be moderating the 2 new filmmaking forums along with Jason. So let me extend a belated welcome to everyone :buttrock: and start a discussion here. The topic is, who are some of your most admired directors and why?

As CG filmmakers, I think it behooves us to look beyond animation for directing role models. While talking to Brad Bird, he mentioned Chuck Jones, Miyazaki, John Ford, Howard Hawkes, David Lean, and James Cameron as directors he admires.

For me, I'd list (in no particular order):

Chuck Jones: for his energy, wise-assness, and knowing when to pause
Miyazaki: for his scope, sheer imagination, and epicness
Steven Spielberg: for his sense of wonderment, fun, and emotions
James Cameron: for his visual storytelling, and visceral impact
So who do you admire and why?

claybub

12-15-2004, 11:46 PM

eisenstein and kulshov

Iced_Eagle

12-16-2004, 12:12 AM

I think Peter Jackson is really cool :D Definetely knows how to make things very exciting...

Kirt

12-16-2004, 12:59 AM

Chuck Jones - 5 or 50 years old, viewers connect to his intelligent humor and excellent timing of the joke. Terry Gillian - I'm just drawn into his strange worlds and equally offbeat characters. 12 Monkeys, Brazil and Time Bandits are tops in my list of favorite films. Ridley Scott - The man who brought Alien, Bladerunner and Legend alive on the screen. These are visual masterpieces and cult favorites. Steven Spielberg - Story, story, story ... I watch a Spielberg film and feel as if I just finished a really good book. Tim Burton - King of stop motion directing if you ask me. Nightmare Before Christmas ranks as my favorite stop motion film. Ron Howard - New on my list of favorite directors. Looking at his career since being "Opie" on the Andy Griffith show ... he's has a lot of great films that fall under his direction. And is quite good at delivering in many different genres. Peter Jackson - For doing what we all wanted to see for years. LoTR will be a classic for generations to come.

OvidsMuse

12-16-2004, 01:22 AM

I really like everyone elses choices. But for me here are the top 3
1.Akira Kurosawa - Impresive use of camera and lighting. There is a pacing in his scenes and movies everyone can aspire too. More Japanese animators should take cue's from this cultural icon.
2.Stanley Kubrick - Imagine 2001 in CG. His eye for detail and distortion of reality make him an ideal director to learn from.
3.Jean-Luc Godard - The "French New Wave" just screams out to CG directors. Or it should The idea that you could create a concept start to fniish entirely alone is really only possible with CG. His movies are a breath of life, and have a spontiniety to them thats brilliant. People should play with there characters as long as possible once there rigged. Look for the life in his films as a guide to the life in yours.

Lunatique

12-16-2004, 06:13 AM

I generally have favorite films as opposed to favorite directors, since it's extremely rare for a director to hit the mark with every film made. Usually I'll love one film in a director's entire career, and the rest I don't like nearly as much. However, the more consistent ones that I like are:

Joss Whedon - He may not be a significan't big screen guy (except for being a well-known script doctor), but his writing and directing on the small screen is absolutely first rate--one of the brightest talents in television. Now's he's finishing up his latest big screen project--Serenity. It's the feature film version of his excellent sci-fi TV series called Firefly.

Stanley Kubrick - A unique visionary that fought to do things his way in his entire career. He tackled many genres, and each time creative a masterpiece unique in that genre.

James Camron - Also a man with a unique vision, who knows what he wants, how to get it, and keep it in line with his vision until the project is done. Some say he's a total hardass (they say the same about Kubrick), but that's what you have to do to fight for your vision.

Riddley Scott - He's never really made a bad film (that's up for debate), and he's created some of the most memorable visual/audio experiences in film history. (I can't stand the films of his brother Tony Scott though.)

Brad Bird - Probably the best animated film director on the planet right now. Making a masterpiece once (Iron Giant) might be a fluke, but doing it twice in a roll (Indredibles) is a genius.

Miyazaki Hayao - Just like Krbrick, he's never made a bad film. One of the most unique visionaries of our time. His depiction of the noble soul facing harrowing odds, and his portrayal of the wonders of innocence have always inspired the better side of human nature.

Bonedaddy

12-16-2004, 07:06 AM

Hayao Miyazaki : Because the man can almost make me cry just by panning over matte paintings.

Alfred Hitchcock : Because EVERYTHING is thought out. EVERYTHING.

David Fincher : Because Fight Club, in my opinion, is one of the best movies of my generation. Seven is also quite striking, and Panic Room... well...

Brad Bird : Because he can inject humanity into even the most overused plot device.

Sofia Coppola : Because she was able to make me homesick for Japan, even though I've never been there.

Hideaki Anno : Because Evangelion seriously messed me up for about a year.

Wes Anderson : Because he seems to look at everything sideways.

I'm sure there's many more, but bit too tired to think of more.

andy_maxman

12-16-2004, 08:04 AM

Francis Ford Coppola :

I find it difficult to watch another movie after watching 'The Godfather' . The details were immaculate. Scene by scene. I wonder how the consistency was maintained. No other movie i watched created such an impact on me.

marchermann

12-16-2004, 08:48 AM

Inspiring Directors - or director's of inspiring film - to me are

Stanley Kubrick:
I have watched "2001" over dozen times and still discover new details. And "Paths of Glory" is a brilliant example of how every scene in a film should serve a purpose.

Orson Welles:
Because he (and his cinematographer) gave us "Citizen Kane" and "Touch of Evil".

Alfred Hitchcock:
Lots of details in every scene. I love how he's using depth-of-field, with things happening both in foreground and background. To me, this makes his films appear more like seen through my own eyes rather than through a camera.

Michelangelo Antonioni:
For "Blow-up" leaving so many questions unanswered.

Fritz Lang:
I could say "Metropolis", but to me "M" is his masterpiece. Just listen to how he made use of the latest craze in filmmaking at the time: sound.

John Lasseter:
Because his short films inspired me to get into computer graphics (and animation eventually).

Marc

JamesMK

12-16-2004, 08:55 AM

....disregarding the annoying fact that I'm not (yet) a CG director.....

Aside from some names already mentioned (Kubrick, Fincher, Scott and Bird) I would like to add

Andrei Tarkovsky - For his unique way to present movies that are pure poetry (Stalker, Solyaris), a pure master of composition who bridged the gap between stylised still photography and motion pictures....

and

Steven Soderbergh - Because of his strange ability to grab the audience in a uniquely intense way, and a one-of-a-kind sense for what a shot can look like... and because he actually managed to remake Tarkovsky's 'Solyaris' into a beautiful movie instead of messing it up like just about any other director would have.

beatoperator

12-16-2004, 09:45 AM

well, I have great respect for old masters... but, can't say I love them most, because I was born and grow up in different time, on different kinda movies... so... here is some list of directors from I always learn something new, watching their movies...

Sam Mendes - great example of a man who amaznigly mixed pure art and meticulous craft

John Woo - genius of staging... I think one of the directors who had most influence on modern cinema.

Peter Jackson - great energy, amazing artist...

Mathieu Kassovitz - great fan of his work

Robert Zemeckis - I haven't seen any bad movie from this guy...

and love films of Tim Burton, Guillermo Del Toro and some others...

Also, great respect for old masters of cinema: Kurosawa, Welles, Bunuel and Hitchcock...

SkullboX

12-16-2004, 09:56 AM

Hayao Miyazaki: This is a no brainer for me. The best animation director who ever lived creating the best animated features ever made, and all that in a time the western world declared 2D animation as 'dead'.

Wong Kar Wai: Chinese (HK) art film director with an extremely unique and amazing style. His 'In the mood for Love' was the first art film I had ever seen, and still one of my if not my favourite film.

Apart from those (incidentially asian) directors I don't really have much film directors who inspired me with their entire collection, but many individual films did, Blade Runner probably being the most important of them. Best SF film ever in my opinion, by far.

HenningK

12-16-2004, 10:17 AM

This is a list of filmmakers who are constantly experimenting with where to put the camera when, but whom I can still appreciate. A few no one's mentioned yet.

Kubrick - Every film he was inventing new tricks for us.

Wes Anderson - Every detail of set, costume, and character description is important. It could make the film, in fact.

M. Night Shaymalan : for making me stare on the screen and fear a shot where nothing is to happen.

Robert Zemeckis : as said, I have never been not entertained by him. haven't seen "polar express" yet.

David Lean : kinda like epic things.

the list could go on and on...

Nixon

12-17-2004, 08:40 PM

I would agree with many of the selections you've all made, but for me personally short forms present even more challenges, artistic freedom, responsability and independance. The medium of music videos for example in the past two decades has had a HUGE impact on modern culture.

For that type of directors, one name stands out for me: Chris Cunnigham (All is full of love by Bjork, Frozen by Madonna, Aphex Twin videos, etc.)

As for big movie directors I would like to mention Guy Ritchie with his incredible and innovative work on "Two smoking barrels" and "Snatch".

RezaMisaghi

12-18-2004, 02:51 PM

Just wana add something .

Emir Kusturica : (director of "UNDERGROUND" , Winner of the Palme d'Or at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival )
it was one of the best movies I have ever seen . The screenplay , the way of directing ,...
it's a big fun to see how he mixed Comedy,Romance & Tragedies.(I have seen only this film from this director)

Abbas Kiarostami :(director of "Taste of cherry" Winner of the Palme d'Or at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival, " The wind will carry us" , "Ten" ,...) .
The way of having no rules in directing !!

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